Animation:
The overall animation is not bad, especially considering that it isn't in Adobe Flash this time around. The overall coloring is nice, with some occasionally stellar backgrounds. As for character styling, Nyaruko has one crazy-large ahoge, which she can apparently control to make shapes and what not (though not to the extent of Yami in To Love-Ru). Some of the clothing (or lack thereof) is a bit odd but given they're aliens I guess it's okay? It seems alien-based series always need a mascot, this time in the form of a hippo-bat-bird chimera.
Xebec's previous works include Kanokon, To LoveRu, Ladies vs Butlers, and MM! thus you can expect that there will be substantial fan service. Much of it is in the form of intentional ecchi similar to that found in Kanakon, though there is also a strong emphasis on yuri elements- and you have Hasuta, a guy who wants to have Mahiro's baby, if that makes any sense to you... There is some action involved, but I found it to be average harem quality, i.e. nothing to be impressed with.
Sound:
Immediately, the OP announces the seriousness of the series with a bunch of "Ooh~ Nyaa!"s. It's a playful but melodically uninspiring piece, though playing the first part at 0.5x speed makes for some good chuckles. The ED feels like the complete opposite of the OP, a very calm and conservative piece. BGM is fairly plain with one weird chant piece used repeatedly throughout.
VA-wise, Kana Asumi did a great job giving Nyaruko a uniquely outgoing personality. Eri Kitamura also, again, demonstrates her unfathomable range as Mahiro; definitely a pretty convincing guy voice. The others were a mix as I found Rie Kugimiya a weird fit for Hasuta.
Story:
There's two ways you can look at the story here, from the innovative parody angle and from the lethargic plot angle.
From the parody angle, this series is pretty entertaining. You can easily find over a dozen parodies in this show ranging from Haruhi to Half Life to The God Only Knows. I'll let you find some of the other ones but do note that it covers a surprisingly broad spectrum of anime and production companies.
Unfortunately, the bare bones plot used to create these parody situations was pretty pitiful. You are presented with a handful of antagonists to move the story along, and they are laughably bad at best. The series is pretty arc-based, building (barely) to a final climax and likewise bare bones resolution. Though the show occasionally moves quickly and sometimes ends on cliffhangers, there are also many conversation points at which one could easily fall asleep. As Nyaruko is 1000% committed to Mahiro, there never feels like there is any real tension or risk- leading to my overall apathy towards the plot.
For me, the plot had the greater impact of the two and as stated already, it's not really worth it just for the parodies. So what about the characters?
Character:
There's a handful of primary and supporting characters, which can easily be bucketed as harem members and the rest, respectively. The series does try to be different by having homosexual tendencies but you never really get anything meaningful as Mahiro is just your standard, indecisive and weak male lead- though he actually does seem to be more rude than the typical nice guy. In the end, the only meaningful character is Nyaruko, who shows her devotion in a very Kanakon fashion, though with additional flair and Super-Sentai-ish body movements. Unfortunately, even with Nyaruko, all the relationships in this series are static- no one really develops at all.
Value:
This series deserves credit for pulling together so many parodies from such a breadth of genres. However, it walks a very well-treaded path in all other categories resulting in a standard, if not sub par, addition to the over-crowded slice of life, comedic harem genre. In retrospect, To Love-Ru offers a more progressive plot and richer character development with a fairly similar premise. Is this a show to watch? You can watch the first episode and use Nyaruko's personality as a litmus test, but in general I'd say pass this one.
